


Burned Out

by AgTung_Alcremist



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: (maybe), Character Study, Gen, Hawkeye's Quirk, Royai if you squint, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28265073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgTung_Alcremist/pseuds/AgTung_Alcremist
Summary: And his light disappears. No - she checks again- not burned out, but gone, as if the lightbulb itself had never existed.In which Hawkeye has a quirk.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye & Roy Mustang
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Burned Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NatureGuardian101](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatureGuardian101/gifts).



And his light disappears. No - she checks again- not burned out, but _gone_ as if the lightbulb itself had never existed. 

.

.

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.

.

It is winter, and Riza is nine, holding her mother’s cold and clammy hand as snow dusts the windowsill outside. Soft, labored gasps fill the quiet room as her mother struggles to breathe. Influenza, they said. She'll get better, they said. 

They were wrong. 

Her mother had been feeling dimmer, smaller, less _there_ as the fever grew and the wind got colder. And then - a bright burst and she’s gone. 

Riza does a double-take, then checks again, and sure enough, her mother is _gone_. It’s like a candle, just blown out; the wax is melted, and the wick is burnt - but the flame is not there. 

Is this -- Is this her quirk? 

She doesn’t tell father because father favors alchemy. _Later,_ Riza thinks. _I’ll tell him later._

.

.

.

 _Later_ never comes. Father has been growing dimmer for some time now, but his, erm, burning out is quite unexpected. Riza’s in the kitchen, peeling potatoes - Mister Mustang said he hadn't had a bite to eat yet - when she feels father waver. Something’s wrong.

Mister Mustang starts shouting, and Riza starts running toward father’s study, feet pounding against the worn, dark wood, slippers sliding, scrabbling for purchase as Riza half-sprints, half-slides.

The door is open, and Mister Mustang is shouting for a doctor while supporting father. Father coughs up a little more blood. It drips from his mouth onto the floor. Mister Mustang looks at Riza, and in that instance, she feels something give, a string breaks, with a little ping, leaving an empty husk. Mi- No. It was father. Father is dead.

.

.

.

“You’ve done so much,” Riza stares down at father’s grave. “I don’t think I can ever thank you enough…”

“It’s the least I could do,” Mister Mustang replies, smiling slightly. “After everything, he’s taught me. Here-” he fishes a business card out of the pocket of his black overcoat. “-You can call me in the military if you need to.”

Riza takes the card with both hands. She stares at it for a couple of seconds, mind blank.

“Let me guess- you also don’t approve of me becoming a soldier,” Mister Mustang frowns. “Your father told me that soldiers are left to die like trash by the side of the road. That may be, but I know it’s the only way to make a difference, and I know I’ll never be happy if I don’t try to make this country a better place.”

Riza stares at him.

He blinks and looks at her. 

“Man,” he chuckles, turning away, possibly from embarrassment. “That must have sounded pretty childish, huh?”

“Not at all,” Riza smiles slightly, sadly, the corners of her mouth turning upwards. She’s mildly surprised that she means it. “There’s nothing childish about caring.” 

He turns toward her again, something incredulous in his expression.

“I’d like to believe you’re serious about this,” She continues, heart hammering. “That you really _do_ care. Can I trust you, _Roy_ , with my father’s research?”

.

.

.

She’s already told him about the tattoo - why not her quirk? He did ask, after all.

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.

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Mister Mustang - Roy - listens as she describes it, the feeling of a life ‘going out’, never interrupting. It feels lighter, a stack of bricks lifted off her chest. Somebody else knows. She’s not alone.

“Like a lightbulb?” he ponders.

Yes. “That’s an apt way to describe it,” Riza answers. “I guess so.”

.

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.

During Ishval, she realizes that proximity matters. Close up, she can feel the glass bulb shatter after a gunshot, the light of life going out as the vacuum is broken. She can feel the filament break, inside a medical tent when a soldier dies from an infected wound. 

Farther away, the only indication of a successful shot is when a light goes out.

She realizes she can track people’s lights, too. It makes finding people to kill with her rifle much easier. 

.

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“So you went through all that in Ishval, but in the end, you chose this path.”

“Yes sir,” Riza nods slightly, eyes fiery, and stares Lt. Colonel Mustang down. “I chose it myself, and put my arms through the sleeves of the uniform of my own will.”

He pauses. “What is your field of expertise?”

“Guns. A gun is good.” 

His eyes widen behind clasped hands.

“Unlike swords or knives, you don’t have to feel your victim die.”

“That’s self-deception…” He protests, but Riza’s mind is set.

.

.

.

.

.

Alphonse Elric and Barry the Chopper’s lights don’t fill their bodies, but instead, illuminate only a small portion of their hulking armor forms. 

The homunculi don’t have lights at all.

“Now… Who wants to go first? Armor boy? Or perhaps it should be _you_ , 1st Lt.? You look like a very loyal officer. I’ll let you follow your boss in no time.”

Wait. “Wait a minute… you said ‘two human sacrifices in a night.’ It can’t be… You didn’t… ” It can’t be…

That _thing_ called Lust smiles. It’s a demented, twisted, evil thing. Riza checks - no, she can’t feel any other lights - just Barry’s and Alphonse’s. Havoc and the Colonel - their lights could be so faint she can’t feel them anymore, or-

Riza starts firing.

.

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.

“... Is this the door to glory, or the gateway to hell?”

Riza shuts the car door with a determined clack.

“Lieutenant, wait here.”

“Roger that.”

“If... anything happens to me, make sure you escape.”

“No.” Her Colonel comes first.

“That’s an order,” He pouts slightly. 

“I refuse.”

“How stubborn. You must obey orders no matter what.” His tone is playful, despite the circumstantial gloom.

“You can always court-marshal me, sir.” She snipes, biting back a sigh.

“I suppose I should be glad to have such a faithful subordinate. I get it… I’ll return. Just wait for me here.”

“Yes sir. Good luck.” His light grows fainter with distance, then disappears among the other lights moving within Central Command. Well. She’ll just have to wait.

And wait she does.

.

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.

It’s the Promised Day, and Roy runs off to search for Envy, leaving Riza alone. She can’t bear to leave him alone, so she goes in anyway, despite his orders. Her boots clack softly on the floor as she raises her gun, scanning for her Colonel’s light. It won’t be much use looking for Envy’s; Homunculi don’t have lights. Where did Envy go?

Then she hears it - the clack of boots coming closer. Closer. Closer. Riza doesn’t know who it is, so she points her gun at the sound as a figure rounds the corner. It’s her Colonel.

“Ah…” No. It’s not. The figure in front of her doesn’t have a light.

“I told you not to follow me, Lieutenant.” The tone, timbre, and actions are so similar that, for a second, Riza doubts her instincts.

“Forgive me, sir,” She responds on reflex, then decides two can play that game. “I simply couldn’t stand around and do nothing. Where is Envy?”

“I lost him!” Roy-Envy grits his teeth. “Damn! This place is like a maze!”

He doesn’t have a light, Riza has to remind herself. This is Envy.

“Stay by my side, Lieutenant. Let’s go.”

Never mind. Her colonel would never say that. She cocks a gun and points it at Envy’s head.

“What’s the meaning of this, Lieutenant? Who do you think you’re aiming at?” His voice doesn't quaver.

Now she senses it, clear as day, the aura of bloodlust that accompanied Gluttony and Pride. Yes, this is Envy. “Excuse me? You must be kidding me,” Two can play this game. “The colonel always calls me Riza when we’re alone!”

Envy predictably shifts back once discovered. “So that’s how it is between you two-”

Riza shoots. “I lied.”

.

.

.

“I’ve got him pinned,” Pride says, his many voices echoing. “Get out of the circle, Wrath.”

“I wonder what will be taken from you?” Bradley mocks as the circle begins to hum. 

The screaming starts.

“Colonel!” Riza screams, running forward even as the little girl, Mei, pushes them back. 

“No! You’ll get caught up in it too!”

She can only watch as the circle glows white and sucks her colonel up.

Scar gives a small shout of surprise as her Colonel disintegrates, his light burning brighter and brighter and- 

And his light disappears. No - she checks again- not burned out, but _gone_ as if the lightbulb itself had never existed. 

**Author's Note:**

> Mewwy Chwistmas (uwu)  
> to you!


End file.
